[[quoteright:248:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dresden_08_7802.jpg]][[caption-width-right:248:Warden off danger.]]

'''''Warning!''''' [[LateArrivalSpoiler All spoilers for previous books are unmarked on this page]]!%% And please no spoilers for future books.

[[TheOneWith The one with]] Harry's new job and all the movie monsters.

Dark magic is afoot in Chicago. Harry Dresden, now a Warden of the White Council, finds himself dealing with the politics of the magical world, learning where the mercurian Summer Court stands in the war between the White Council and the vampires, and investigating a series of attacks by creatures that feed on fear.

So having to make peace between his [[ChurchMilitant Holy Knight]] best friend's precocious teenage daughter and said knight's wife is probably not coming with the best of timing.

'''''Proven Guilty''''' is book #8 in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Now has its own [[ShoutOut/ProvenGuilty Shout Out]] page.----!!''Proven Guilty'' provides example of the following tropes:

* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: This is the first instance of mentioning that Lasciel inhabits, as Harry states, "...the ninety percent of the brain humans don't use." Harry then mentions [[SelfDeprecation in his case, it's probably 95 percent]].* AllOfThem: Lea's response when Harry asks how many fae of the Winter Court are coming [[spoiler:in response to Harry shooting Summer fire into the Winter wellspring.]] For once, it's strongly implied that this is NotHyperbole.* AlreadyDoneForYou: Harry and company finds the gates of [[spoiler:Mab's fortress Arctis Tor]] destroyed and main guards already slain upon arriving.* AlwaysABiggerFish: In the process of escaping from [[spoiler:Madrigal Raith's attempts to sell him to the highest bidder]], Harry corners his would-be captors and seems to have gained the upper hand... until a ''bigger'' nasty crashes the party and sends ''everyone'' running for cover.* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Harry glares at Molly with a look he normally reserves for rampaging demons and those survey people at malls.* BadassLongcoat: Harry Lampshades how people stop thinking he's a superhero when he ''doesn't'' wear his leather duster.* BadassNormal: Several examples.** Murphy qualifies, as a mundane policewoman fighting against creatures of the Nevernever.** Rawlins, another police officer who doesn't even have the advantage of Murphy's experience with the supernatural.** [[spoiler:Charity Carpenter]] also turns out to be quite capable with a hammer, which is extremely helpful against the ColdIron-hating faerie.* BatmanColdOpen: The book begins with the execution of a warlock, and much of the plot of the story is about how to handle another warlock.* BatmanGambit: It is never truly said whether [[spoiler:The Gatekeeper Rashid, Faery Queens Lily and Maeve or Mab, or God]] started the events in motion to help save [[spoiler:Molly, Harry, and the members of the Senior Council]] but the plan works out perfectly in the end. See GambitPileUp for more.* BerserkButton:** Harming innocents pisses Harry off. Harming his friends and loved ones is worse. He even makes [[spoiler:Winter Lady Maeve]] afraid of him for a brief moment when he notes she's done this.** Speaking badly of Thomas's StarCrossedLover Justine is a good way to make him angry. [[spoiler:He kneecaps his cousin Madrigal Raith for it.]]** Harming Harry is ''[[CanineCompanion Mouse]]'s'' berserk button. [[spoiler:Even after being hit by a car, he chases down the men who kidnapped Harry.]]** Given Charity's protectiveness, harming her children pisses her off. Also Harry just being near her is a big issue.** Harry realizes a bit too late that [[spoiler:using Summer Fire on the Winter wellspring]] is a big one to ''the entire Winter Court''. It is enough to [[spoiler:draw back the ''entire Winter Army'' currently watching the border of Winter and Summer]].* BigDamnHeroes: Michael is this to [[spoiler:the Warden training camp; his arrival helped save the novice mages and three members of the Senior Council.]]* BookEnds: Harry asks Molly if she has any doubt he can ''make'' her do what he says in both their first and last encounters of the novel.** The book starts with Harry attending the the execution of a young warlock by the White Council. [[spoiler: Near the end, Harry saves Molly from being executed by the White Council.]]* BotheringByTheBook: Rashid uses this to [[spoiler:save Molly's life. During her trial by the White Council]], he uses a procedural objection to stall things long enough for [[spoiler:the absent members of the Senior Council to arrive and reverse the decision]].* CallBack: When discussing [[spoiler:giving the debt Lily owes him to Charity because of a wrong he did her,]] Harry refers back to how banks buy and sell mortgages, which is how Mab described it in ''Summer Knight''.** In another ''Summer Knight'' CallBack, Harry dumps ice cold water on [[spoiler:Molly]] when she tries to convince him to have sex with her, just like he dumped it on himself when Maeve did the same.* TheCavalry: Several instances.** The Summer Court act as this for [[spoiler:the White Council (including several Senior Council members) under attack by Red Court vampires, after Harry distracts the Winter Court forces that were keeping them from aiding]].** Even after that, however, Michael has to act as the cavalry for [[spoiler:the fleeing Senior Council members, who had joined forces with Luccio's Warden trainees, only to come under attack again]].** And to come full circle, those [[spoiler:Senior Council members]] end up being Harry's cavalry when they arrive [[spoiler:at Molly's trial, keeping her from being put to death]].* CannotTellALie: Supernatural entities in general, but particularly the Faery Queens. This doesn't stop them (particularly the Faery Queens) from being ''misleading'', though.* ChekhovsGun:** Lily gives a warning that [[spoiler:should she or her power directly assault lawfully acting members of the Winter Court, the retaliation would be immediate and consequences quite grave.]] This comes to play because [[spoiler:this is what Lily wants, so all of Winter's armies will rush at Harry's team and allow Summer's armies to act elsewhere.]]** Michael makes mention of [[spoiler:''Outsiders'' trying to stop the retreat of the White Council members he came to protect and save]].** [[spoiler:The Silver Oak Leaves awarded by Titania, with Lily as the presenter, to both Donald Morgan and Harry Dresden. Both are named Squires in the Summer Court and owed one boon for their acts of bravery and fortitude in the book]].** Fix's initial thought of [[spoiler:Winter Lady Maeve's statements]] will have some bearing in future books.* ChekhovsGunman:** Thomas mentions [[spoiler:Madrigal Raith, his cousin, has been spending time with the fear-feeding House Malvora.]]** [[spoiler:Red Court vampire Duchess Arianna, wife of Ortega, was mentioned as one of the bidders for Harry on Ebay]].** At the climax. [[spoiler:Wizard Samuel Peabody is back, dutifully helping keep track of all sorts of data.]]* TheChessmaster: Lea describes Mab as such, with her habit of being patient and detailed about her plots. [[spoiler:It is implied she had the Fetches go after Molly and played restrained about reacting to the Red Court's actions in ''Dead Beat'' because she, personally, was waiting for a better time to strike. So, she allowed Maeve to think her wrong, to make her work with Lily in a long plot to get Harry Dresden chasing the Scarecrow Fetch to Arctis Tor with Summer Fire and destroy her Wellspring, giving Summer their chance for vengeance.]] Harry gets this idea because [[spoiler:one of the ice statues in Mab's garden was her in disguise and winked at him]].* ChewBubblegum: As Harry busts into a theater, trying to get [[spoiler:the phobophages inside to attack him]], he shouts "And I'm all out of bubblegum!"* TheChooserOfTheOne:** Harry still has ''Fidelacchius''.** However, Michael reveals Harry isn't the first White Council Wizard to hold this spot. [[spoiler:Merlin, the ''Original Merlin'', Founder of the White Council, held ''Amoracchius''. Yes, this means ''Amoracchius'' is Excalibur.]]* ColdBloodedTorture: This is the simplified way of saying [[spoiler:what has befallen Lloyd Slate. Pun included.]]** Also subverted--[[spoiler: rather than outright torturing Slate's body, Mab is torturing his mind by putting him through an endless cycle of pain and comfort.]]* ComesGreatResponsibility:** Discussed between Harry and Father Forthill when the Parable of Talents comes up. Harry notes Stan Lee says it simpler and quicker with "With great power comes great responsibility." The good Father agrees but feels the Parable is easier to work into a sermon.** [[spoiler:Molly wants to continue with her magic because of this idea and uses the Parable of Talents as her justification]].** [[spoiler:Charity realizes she averted this trope, to her shame, by burying her magic and never learning to use it for good]].* ContrivedCoincidence:** Michael reveals back in ''Death Masks'' he [[spoiler:just happened to be taking the garbage out when Nicodemus threw the coin of Lasciel at Harry and Michael's son Harry. He saw Harry save his son from the darkness of the coin]].** Basically a superpower of the Knights of the Cross. Harry [[InvokedTrope invokes]] it [[GenreSavvy intentionally]] to try and save [[spoiler:Molly's life]]. [[spoiler:It works]].* CoolSword: In the book, it is revealed [[spoiler:''Amoracchius'' once held the name Excalibur in its past.]]* CowboyCop: Detective Greene from Chicago Homicide is a staunch believer in the book, both book of the law and the book of normalcy, and generally follows the rules. [[spoiler:He treads into the "Cowboy" section by omitting to mention to Molly that, as she is just a suspect in the attack and murder at the convention, she need not answer any question, can request legal counsel at any time, and most importantly, can leave if she chooses to. He doesn't even record the interrogation, which is supposed to be used to ensure the police don't use underhanded tactics exactly like this]].* CripplingOverspecialization: The fetch in the form of Hammerhands can't climb a ladder because he has hammers for hands.* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: When Harry tells [[spoiler:Molly that she will be living with her parents again while he is training her]] and provides a list of things she will be there.-->'''Harry:''' ...you're going to do everything in your power to be the most respectful, loving, respectful, considerate and [[RuleOfThree respectful]] daughter in the whole wide world.* {{Deprogram}}:** The Merlin notes that several of the surviving victims of the Warlock they executed at the start of the book, of the two dozens mind he altered, ''three'' might eventually regain their sanity.** [[spoiler:Molly's friends she reprogrammed]] will endure a long road to some recovery but never fully coming back to who they were.* DestinationDefenestration: Not seen, but a threat to Harry from [[spoiler:Charity. If he harms Molly while training her, Charity will throw Harry out of his office building window]].* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Harry did. [[spoiler:When he puts Summer Fire into Mab's fountain, ''her entire army'' on the border of Summer and Winter senses it and comes roaring after him with vengeance on its mind]].* DistractedFromDeath: [[spoiler:Harry's trying to save a girl from a phobophage, but gets carried away attacking it and, when he turns round to check on the girl, she's bled to death.]]* DropTheHammer:** The monster Hammerhands.** [[spoiler:Charity wields a steel one as part of her arsenal in charging Arctis Tor.]]* DrunkOnTheDarkSide:** The young warlock at the start of the book is this, by Merlin's words. He either personally killed or brainwashed his family to kill each other. Merlin firmly believed the young man he once was is dead and gone.** Harry himself worries that he might be this when he neglects checking on civilians so that he can beat up a Xenomorph.* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: Harry is aware of this trope, as well as how horrible his Latin is. So when [[spoiler:Molly's trial]] comes around and he has to make an eloquent defense to keep the warlock from being executed for black magic, he manipulates the situation so that he can present his defense in English.* EnemyMine: [[spoiler: Turns out Maeve and Lily were working together to manipulate Harry into storming Arctis Tor]]* EverybodyKnewAlready: Turns out that [[spoiler:Harry's been living in fear of Michael finding out about [[FallenAngel Lasciel]] for no reason.]]* ExactWords:** Dealing with Fae for part of the book, Harry knows this is part of the whole deal. Such as asking Lily to start at the "beginning" she asks for clarification on whose beginning.** However, Harry was able to pull this back on Maeve. In exchange for coming to a meeting, she wanted to know when Harry "flesh, strange and new to your hand, lay quivering beneath" him? When was the last time he "could taste some little lovelies' cries?" Harry notes that would be [[Literature/SummerKnight when he killed Aurora.]] And her body, sliced by cold iron lay beneath him as she died surprised and confused.** Later in the book, [[spoiler:when Harry uses some LoopholeAbuse to get around Titania's conscription on Lily and Fix, Fix notes that Queen Titania's exact words didn't cover what Harry did. She may be angry but won't act on it. Later, Lily freely talks about her plan because the events had already past and the conscription only held to current or future events.]]* ExcaliburInTheStone:** When discussing the lack of people Harry's instincts tell him would be a proper wielder of ''Fidelacchius'', he offers to Michael to put it in a stone and then set it in the White House lawn. Michael crosses himself and mutters, "God forbid."** Michael also notes that it's possible that ''Amoracchius'' [[spoiler:was once called Excalibur.]]* FalseInnocenceTrick: As much as one can call [[spoiler:Leanansidhe]] "innocent" the imprisoned person plays the part of a person in need, knowing Harry would likely help the person be free. [[spoiler:If not for Lea fighting from the inside and telling Harry off, Harry would have.]]* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Harry's godmother Leanansidhe has two distinct personalities, one seeming to be her normal, psycho self, but another is a quieter, more determined voice. The former wants to be free, the latter tells Harry to not release her]].* {{Foreshadowing}}:** Mouse growls [[spoiler:at Molly like he did against another warlock. He stops when Harry tells him so.]]** At the convention [[spoiler:Molly is working at]] the printer has been acting up quite a bit as of late. And it isn't just when Harry's around.* FormerTeenRebel: Charity states she was abit of a rebel from her upper-crust family in her youth, and [[spoiler:even was practitioner in her younger days, a weak one, but she did get in with a bad crowd and it nearly led her to be eaten by a dragon. She walks away from that life after Michael saved her.]]* FullNameUltimatum: Though not yelled when Michael sees Molly for the first time in several weeks and finds her hair pink and she has visible tattoos and piercings, he says in a hushed voice, "Margaret Katherine Amanda Carpenter."* GambitPileup: The plot is initially presented as an investigation by Harry into attacks by the phages against the horror movie convention, but it rapidly becomes much more complex when Thomas starts acting secretive and tails Harry around town, then the [[TheFairFolk Sidhe]] Ladies start plucking strings, and it gets even muddier when Madrigal Raith gets involved, planning to [[spoiler:sell Harry on Ebay for profit]]. By the end of the book, it looks like Lily manipulates [[spoiler:Harry into going into Arctis Tor]], while Maeve manipulated [[spoiler:Harry into Arctis Tor and slowed down time in the region to trap the armies of Winter so Summer could attack]], and it is hinted that [[spoiler:the entire thing might have been arranged by Mab]], and then at the trial at the very end of the book it appears [[spoiler:the entire bloody thing was planned by the Gatekeeper.]] And to top it all off, at the very, very end of the trial, [[spoiler:Michael shows up, having saved Luccio, Ebenazar, and the rest of the Senior Council, alongside the Summer Court intervening in a battle between the Council and the Red Court, saving the day]], which may mean that [[spoiler:[[InMysteriousWays ''everything was planned by God.'']]]] And the Black Council was apparently involved at one level or another, somewhere, and the Denarians make a small cameo somewhere in this screwball of a mess. Just as planned.* GenerationXerox: Harry sees the parallels between the situation he faces in this book and [[spoiler:Michael's rescuing of Charity]] and {{defied|Trope}} it. [[spoiler:In their youths, both Charity and Molly are practicing mages. Both end up in a bad situation, with Charity nearly being sacrificed and Molly violating the laws of magic. Both are saved from their dark fates of death by Michael and Harry, respectively. And both Charity and Molly fell for the man who rescues them. Unlike Michael, Harry refuses Molly's advances]].* GroinAttack: Harry makes up for his lack of real skill with a sword by stabbing [[spoiler:an ogre]] "in the danglies." The rest of the enemies wisely back off at the prospect of getting a sword in their privates.* {{Hellfire}}** Harry still uses it.** [[spoiler:Hellfire was also used in a major assault against Arctis Tor]].* HeroWorshipper: [[spoiler:Molly full stop for Harry. It is because she worshiped him so much she kept her magic a secret from everyone, save her mother. As Harry puts it, if he was a rocker, she wouldn't want to show her skills by just being able to play the scales and nothing else. She wanted to do something grand.]]* IDidWhatIHadToDo:** [[spoiler:Molly's justification for Mind Raping her friends and bending their wills to her demands, in order to get them off drugs and protect a developing fetus]].** Harry says this is his final position on killing two people in cold blood in ''Dead Beat.'' He had never done it before and it bothered him still. But he would still make the same choice again if he could go back.* InfectiousInsanity: Maeve, from her view point as a Fae, considers mortal notions such as "Good," "Evil," and "Love" as a type of insanity and in hindsight believes Aurora was suffering from some mortal madness. [[spoiler:And she claims it has been passed into Mab]].** HumanityIsInfectious: Her fear.* InMysteriousWays: Harry and Father Forthill have a discussion about faith and God's plan in regards to Molly's kidnapping and Michael's unavailability (he's away on a job). [[spoiler: Weaponized by Harry who realizes that maybe God wanted Michael away so that he can be in the right place to save his daughter.]]* IntrepidReporter: Ms. Lydia Stern for the ''Midwestern Arcane'', who replaced Susan as lead reporter.* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Harry calls Murphy a "savvy cop chick". Murphy objects, and Harry amends it to "police chick," which she accepts.* LadyOfWar: [[spoiler:Charity Carpenter reveals herself to be one. She has been Michael's training partner for the past 20 years and is skilled in various forms of fighting with weapons.]]* LampshadeHanging: Entering the locked-up movie theater, Harry remarks on what scene of the movie he's playing out, and even taunts [[spoiler:the fetches]] by saying he'll have to try walking backwards through a door or something if they don't attack him soon.* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Some phobophages take the shape of horror movie monsters to inspire fear. Harry ends up fighting several that are clearly based on specific characters, but with a single detail changed.** The first one to appear is Hammerhands, a man who has sledgehammers at the ends of his arms instead of hands, has a premise rather similar to Film/EdwardScissorhands (though the latter wasn't a horror movie).** Another is the Reaper, a masked villain who attacks people with a sickle, a la ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'''s Jason, who wears a hockey mask and attacks people with a machete.** The most blatant example is an unnamed creature that's given very little description except that it's simultaneously feline and insect-like. It would have been harder to figure out what that meant if Harry didn't spend the entire time he fought it quoting ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.** The Scarecrow, a regenerating plant-creature with CombatTentacles in the form of vines for limbs and a pumpkin for a head, may be a reference to ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}''... though that movie's monster [[NonIndicativeName didn't actually have a pumpkin for a head]].** Combined with a TakeThat when Harry one-shots Bucky the Murder Doll (an obvious reference to Chucky, the evil living doll of ''Film/ChildsPlay'' fame) without even using magic, and then points out that he could never understand how anybody found it scary.* LeftHanging: Harry never does figure out [[spoiler:who ran the Beetle off the road]], at least not in this book.* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Harry attributes Molly's infatuation with him to this.* LoopholeAbuse: Harry, rather wisely for him, [[spoiler:gets around the conscription binding Lily and Fix from helping ''him'' by selling the debt to ''Charity'' and have her call in the debt that Lily now owes ''Charity.'' So long as Harry is a third party helping Charity in her quest and not the person directly asking for help, Lily and Fix are free to help her]].* LovedINotHonorMore: As Michael is about to leave on a mission from the Home Office, his daughter returns for the first time in months. It is obvious he would love to be with her, to try and mend the rift between Charity and Molly, but cannot forsake this mission and so asks Harry to help as he can in this matter in his stead.* MamaBear: Charity Carpenter more than fits this trope. [[spoiler:She ''storms the gates of Winter Faerie Capital itself'' to get her daughter back.]]* MercyKill: Merlin believes, on some level, killing Warlocks is this as the good person they once were was gone and could not come back after tasting the pleasures of Evil Magic. There is nothing left but a monster in human guise.* MissionFromGod:** Michael goes on one just as Harry brings back Molly at the start of the book. [[spoiler:It is to save the White Council trainees, Luccio, and three Senior Council members from a Red Court attack. Harry suspects the primary consequence of this mission was to give Molly a chance to live through her trial]].** Michael postulates [[spoiler:Harry is on a mission as well. Michael's actions just as equally saved Harry from coming to blows with the Merlin. And as being a parent causes all kinds of CharacterDevelopment in a person, perhaps God is hoping Harry will develop into a stronger, wiser, more capable person by being a teacher and foster parent to Molly]].* MoodSwinger: While what has befallen [[spoiler:the Leanansidhe]] will remain a mystery for a few more books, it is clear ''something'' is not right when [[spoiler:she goes from saying she is happy to be imprisoned by Mab to demanding Harry release her]].* MyGodWhatHaveIDone** There is the famous instance where Harry fights a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} xenomorph]], including quoting from the movie with "Get away from her, you ''bitch!''" [[spoiler:as he proceeds to roast and smash the beast repeatedly until it is turned into chunky salsa. Moments later, however, he learns the "her" he was rescuing has bled out and died, and he is left to wonder if he wasted the chance to save her because he was indulging in blasting the monster repeatedly instead, and in turn whether that enjoyment had something to do with Lasciel's shadow's influence on him]].** [[spoiler:Charity has a small one when her daughter uses the [[ComesGreatResponsibility Parable of Talents]] against her as to why she should keep her magic because she could do so much good with her power. Charity, who was a practitioner but gave up her magic, realizes she is the third servant who just buried his bag and did nothing with it, and she gave up her own chance to do good in the world with magic but chose to hide it from everyone, including Michael]].* TheNicknamer: Harry being this is no surprise, but in this book Molly takes a turn also, tagging her littlest sister Hope "Hobbit" on the spot. Her other sister Alicia objects to Molly's pet name for her (Leech).* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler:Madrigal Raith is not the one who summoned the phobopages or cause the trouble at the convention. He was set up to take the fall though]].* NotSoDifferent:** Near the start of the book, when Harry is talking about the White Council's dispensing Justice on a Warlock, and just how far this young man went and how incapable the police currently are in detaining such a man, Murphy is shocked and angered. After a minute, she wonders if this is how ''civilians'' see her and police when the police must act in the best course but the civilians lack all information.** Harry realizes [[spoiler:Molly's infatuation is based in part in how similar their relationship is to Molly's parents. Michael/Harry saved Charity/Molly from an evil group the lady got herself entangled with and not fully understanding the risks of their choices.]]* NotWhatItLooksLike: Harry does try to explain away [[spoiler:a teenage Molly walking out of his hotel room's shower in nothing but a towel, but Charity never gave him the chance and slugs him.]]* TheOathBreaker: Harry sees what befalls [[spoiler:the traitorous Winter Knight Lloyd Slate for breaking his oath to the Winter Queens, and all of Winter. He is frozen, tortured to the point of near death, removed, healed and tended to by Mab, only to be put back in once he is well. ''Rinse and repeat.'']]* ObstructiveCodeOfConduct: Titania still has ''issues'' with Harry after the events of Literature/SummerKnight. [[spoiler:So she creates a code of conduct and places it upon Lily and Fix, preventing them from speaking of matters that could help Harry out.]]* OhCrap:** Harry makes [[spoiler:Homicide Detective Greene and FBI Agent Rick each suffer one upon telling them that Molly, who they are interrogating without Mirandizing, is also a ''juvenile'' so she cannot give consent to being spoken to anyway.]]** Harry also makes [[spoiler:Maeve suffer one by revealing ''he'' was the one to kill her handmaid Jenny when Maeve sent Jenny to Billy and Georgia's wedding to destroy them. Because they were ''his'' people when they killed one of Maeve's favorite minions, he's the one who should be targeted. Since it was Harry's friends, it upsets him greatly.]]** Harry is told [[spoiler:by Maeve Mab is insane like Aurora was. Lily and Fix are suffer one as well.]]** Harry learns [[spoiler:that every Fae in Winter is coming to kill him. ''Personally''.]]-->'''Harry''': [[{{Understatement}} Crap.]]** He has another one later in the same book, when he realizes that [[spoiler:his outmaneuvering of the Merlin in trying to save Molly's life has actually resulted in forcing the Merlin to have her KILLED, both because the Council can't have one of its regional commanders kept busy with an apprentice during a war, and to show that he still has more power than one young upstart wizard/warden.]]** A third time for Harry would occur when Michael admits, [[spoiler:while he has known about Lasciel's shadow being inside Harry since the night of the infection, if Michael believes Harry is going to embrace the Fallen, he will end Harry.]] After a moment of thinking on it, Harry is happy and would want that as well.** Charity suffers from one [[spoiler:learning Molly has violated one of the Laws of Magic and would likely die, that's assuming she is rescued from ''Mab's'' personal spies and assassins. who have kidnapped Molly.]]* OnePhoneCall: Molly claims she can't call her folks because she used her one phone call to ask Harry to come bail her out. Harry points out that it doesn't actually work that way.* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The White Council is genuinely unnerved by the fact [[spoiler:the Red Court attacked both Summer and Winter domains and neither side is reacting with movements to destroy the Red Court for this massive smack to the face]].* OrpheanRescue: When [[spoiler:Molly Carpenter]] was abducted, Harry, [[spoiler:Charity Carpenter, Karrin, Thomas, and later Summer Knight Fix work together to free her from Mab's personal home Arctis Tor]].* PowerUp: Harry realizes [[spoiler:that the fiery butterfly Lily gave him and his companions as a guide to Mab's home, was a subtle way of giving Harry this. Drawing the butterfly into his staff, his fires become blessed by Summer Fire, which gives him a bigger boost against the Winter phobophages.]]* PreAssKickingOneLiner: When faced with the strongest enemy in the book and Harry receiving a nice power-up, he looks upon his foe and says a nice little ShoutOut.--->'''Harry:''' [[spoiler:How about a little fire, Scarecrow?]]* PrecisionFStrike:** Michael, being a very reverent man, does not like taking the Lord's Name in vain. So when he sees his eldest daughter with pink hair, piercings, and visible tattoos, he says "God's blood."** A more serious one during [[spoiler:Molly's]] trial. Harry's narration specifies that he's taking "that fucking hood" off the head of the accused, emphasizing how unjust he sees the whole process.* {{Pride}}: [[spoiler:Charity suffers this vice. Because of her past experiences with magic nearly led her to either be threatened by a Warden or killed by an evil dragon, she considers magic nothing but trouble and refuses to accept that Molly could have done something good with it. Her pride and stern belief drove her to push Molly to give it up, which made the equally prideful Molly refuse and try to prove her mother wrong by helping people but only ends up harming two people. While Molly does relent, it takes Molly citing the Parable of Talents to make her mother see just how bad she is acting.]]* [[RageAgainstTheAuthor Rage Against The Director]]: When the BigBad fetch attacks at the Full Moon Garage, it takes the form of the Scarecrow, a ''Pumpkinhead''-Expy from director Darby Crane's horror films. One of the targets it attacks is Crane himself [[spoiler:aka Madrigal Raith]], and it scares the living crap out of him.* RebuiltPedestal: Harry finally rekindles his relationship with Ebenazar. * RedHerring: Harry realizes [[spoiler:Madrigal Raith was set up to be this with the fetches, to make it look like he might have called them to feast upon the fear they spread]].* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Charity was a former practitioner, and has known for some time her daughter is now one.]]* SandInMyEyes: Dresden, during the scene where [[spoiler:he talks to Michael about the two people he had to kill to stop the events from last Halloween.]]-->Stupid damned streetlights, getting all blurry like that.* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Madrigal Raith runs off while the Scarecrow-fetch is attacking Thomas and Harry.]]* SealedEvilInACan: Harry finds [[spoiler:his godmother Leanansidhe trapped in a frozen fountain by Mab's power. While Lea was no angel before, it is clear when Lea mood swings and changes voices urging Harry to leave her, Mab had a very good reason for holding her in a prison.]]* SecretKeeper: Harry keeps the fact that [[spoiler:Charity is a retired practitioner]] a secret.* SecretSecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Michael reveals at the end of the book that he has known since the end of ''Death Masks'' Harry took the coin of Lasciel to save his youngest]].* SignatureScent: [[spoiler:Harry realizes Hellfire was used in Mab's home by the scent the flames left behind]].* SignOfTheApocalypse:-->''I started to get annoyed, but was struck by the disturbing thought that if I did, I would be coming down on the same side of the situation as Charity, which might be one of the signs of the apocalypse.''* SkilledButNaive:** This is Harry's assessment of [[spoiler:Lily, the Summer Queen. Based on what Meryl told him back in ''Summer Knight'', Lily isn't the wisest of people. That said, she has become well adapted to her mantle's power.]]** [[spoiler:Molly also fits as she saw noting wrong with imposing her will over her two friends, not considering the true morality of her action and any potential consequences of it.]]* SoProudOfYou: [[spoiler:Ebenezer to Harry for moving to protect Molly and all his other actions in the book]].* {{Squick}}: In-Universe. Harry and Murphy have a little moment of this when they discuss the fact Murphy's second ex-husband, FBI Agent Rick, is now married to and sleeping with Murphy's ''youngest sister''.* SteppingOutForAQuickCupOfCoffee: Rawlins "conveniently overlooks" Harry snooping around a crime scene. Later, when Harry needs to illegally pick a lock, he tells Murphy to "look at that zeppelin", and she grudgingly turns her back so he can get on with it.* SummonBiggerFish: While not as physically domineering as most in this case, Harry does summon [[spoiler:reporter Lydia Stern to listen in and act when Harry gets Det. Greene and FBI Agent Rick to admit to some less than kosher interrogation practices to the minor Molly Carpenter]].* TakeThat: Several of the forms the fetches take are snarked at by Harry,-->"That was [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Bucky the Murder Doll]]."\\"Kind of a wimp."\\"Must have been the runt of the litter."\\"Personally. I never understood how anyone could have found that thing frightening to begin with."** Though it's actually used as a plot point... since none of the people in the group were particularly scared of Bucky, that's ''why'' it was such a wimp.* TemporalParadox: Messing with the currents of time can cause this, so it is one reason the Senior Council has a law against it. [[spoiler:[[ForWantOfANail Rashid gets around this by giving tiny hints to nudge things in a different direction.]] As Bob explains, if a car was going to be stolen, Rashid could not tell the owner to move to protect it via a message from the future or this will cause a paradox. He ''can'' however suggest that it is moved from the street to a garage. It will still be stolen but the results, such as in the former case that the car owner is shot and killed in a mugging for the car and in the latter is knocked out and not otherwise harmed, can vary wildly]].* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Murphy faces the dilemma once again. [[spoiler:On the morning of her needing to take over the [=SplatterCon=] attack case, due to other men being taken out in the previous attack, Murphy agrees to help Harry rescue Molly, knowing it could end poorly with her if she is gone too long. So she picks Good, namely because legally, they don't recognize magic or jaunts into Fairyland on rescue missions as reasonable excuses for leaving her post unannounced.]]* TookALevelInBadass: While not entirely there, Lily and Fix have both grown as the Summer Lady and Summer Knight. Best shown when they were interacting with Maeve, who gloats that she used to torture and humiliate them only to get shot down and dismissed by them both.* TrueCompanions:** Harry realizes Karrin and Thomas are this for him when they [[spoiler:agree to come with him to attack ''Mab's home'' to save the life of Molly Carpenter.]]** By the end of the book, [[spoiler:with Charity's animosity gone, and she and Harry working together to save Molly, Charity and Harry are now this.]]** Michael shows he is one to Harry by [[spoiler:still loving and trusting the man despite him having the shadow of a Fallen within him.]] As Michael said, he has faith. Faith in the Almighty and faith in Harry.* {{UST}}: Harry and Murphy finally acknowledge the massive amount of it between them, though Murphy declines because she knows Harry doesn't do casual relationships.* WellIntentionedExtremist:** Lily is willing [[spoiler:to sacrifice Harry and his friends in their rescue attempt of Molly, all to hope Harry would use Summer Fire on Mab's Wellspring, pissing off every Winter Fae.]]** [[spoiler:When Harry cites the evil in Molly's choice to bind her friends' will and alter their minds, she repeatedly tried to claim she did nothing wrong. It takes a few times for the depth of what "nothing wrong" really meant and how wrong she really went.]]* WeNeedADistraction: [[spoiler:Lily wants to send help to the White Council and pay the Red Court back for its injury in the previous book. But with Mab keeping her forces on the border between both Faerie Courts, neither Lily nor Titania dare make a move to remove even one soldier. So, Lily plans to get Harry to be a distraction and draw the attention of the Winter army]].* WhamLine: Harry [[spoiler:(to Charity): How long has it been since you've used your magic?]]* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Two examples of untrained practitioners whose minds are tainted and warped by Dark Magic. The Korean boy in the start of the book and [[spoiler:Molly Carpenter who must fight against those urges from now on.]]* WorthIt: [[spoiler:Murphy considers going with Harry to help save Molly worth any professional repercussions she will face because of vanishing for an entire day.]]* WrongGenreSavvy: One of the best examples in all of the Dresden novels: Harry confronts a murderous vampire, warning the guy to back off or Harry will expose his work. The vampire laughs as he assumes that he and Harry are bound by "rules" to protect this grand Masquerade and Harry would never dare reveal the existence of magic to humans. He's more than a bit deflated when Harry points out he's ''listed in the phone book'' under "Wizards."* YouShallNotPass:** [[spoiler:Murphy and Thomas hold the line at the entrance to the steeple when Charity and Harry race up it to rescue Molly.]]** Later, [[spoiler:Harry and Thomas hold the line as Murphy and Charity help Molly to escape from [=NeverNever=].]]